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Rock on, Alvin, 35 years after
He became a guitar legend when he played Woodstock. Now Alvin Lee is playing Yorkshire. Eric Roberts talked to him.
The old saying goes that if you can remember the Sixties, and in particular the drug-fuelled music fest that was Woodstock, you weren't there.
"If you were playing there, you had to remember a bit," laughs Alvin Lee, whose set as a member of the band, Ten Years After, elevated him to the ranks of guitar legend, particularly when the film of the 1969 concert was released.
"Nobody thought it was going to be a particularly big deal – it was just another name on the date list. But it seemed to be something special when we got within 10 miles and all the roads were closed – we had to be lifted in by helicopter."
Lee recalls the event as "pretty crazy". "The place was declared a national disaster area. I went into the crowd in a big rainstorm, and to be honest, I don't remember much of that bit. People didn't know who I was, and they were offering me all sorts – drink this, smoke this, take this..."
But Woodstock, says Lee, was "the beginning of the end" for the band. "We were doing OK on the underground circuit, playing 2,000-seaters, but it was the movie that made the difference – suddenly, we were playing ice-hockey arenas and started attracting an audience aged 12-24. We'd crossed over, and I wanted to cross back.
"I remember at one concert, lots of little girls dashed to the front, and one dropped her ice-cream. She stopped to pick it up and got trampled on. I didn't want to be a rock star, and I rebelled against it – I wanted to be a proper musician."
Born in Nottingham, Lee joined the Elvis Presley Fan Club when he was 14 – not because of Elvis, but because he wanted to learn the guitar licks of Elvis' guitar player, Scotty Moore. The wheel has turned full circle, as Moore features on Lee's newest album, In Tennessee.
"I met him in 1995 – it was a pilgrimage, and I went as a fan," says Lee. "We were at George Harrison's house, and Scotty was very nice to me, and showed me how to play some of his licks. He was quite tickled at my forthrightness, but we got on well, and he agreed to play on the album."
Lee's latest tour teams him with sax player Edgar Winter, bass player Pete Pritchard, who's played with Chuck Berry and Bill Haley, and drummer Rich Newman, who began playing with Steve Marriot at the age of 14 and featured in Rory Gallagher's band.
"We'll play some blues and jazz, and an acoustic set, but it'll be mainly rock'n'roll, with the double bass," says Lee. "I prefer standing-up venues, but the promoters tell me the fans like to sit comfortably these days."
Alvin Lee and Edgar Winter are at Bradford St George's Hall on Friday; Harrogate International Centre on Saturday; Grimsby Auditorium on Sunday and Sheffield City Hall on May 1.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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